Rejected

In order to identify areas of unmet need in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), this study sought to use real-world observational healthcare data to characterise the burden in patients with PBC and in PBC patients with a recorded diagnosis of pruritus.

Malakoplakia is a rare entity on inflammatory base that mostly occurs in immunocompromised individuals which is thought to be secondary to a bactericidal defect in macrophages. The genitourinary tract is typically affected. The appendix is a very rare localization. We report a case of malakoplakia in the appendix of a young healthy patient with a recent history of abdominal pain associated with diarrhea and nausea. The colonscopy and CT scan showed an extramucosal bumping mass pressing on the cecum and covered by normal mucosa. The patient underwent to laparoscopic appendectomy. The histology showed a malakoplakia of the appendix. Gastrointestinal localization of malakoplakia is often associated with preexisting diseases, which are probably responsible for an immune disorder underlying the etiopathogenesis of the disease. However, in our case, the patient had no comorbidities. Probably, a clinically unknown immune predisposition plays an important role. Further studies are needed to clarify this nexus.

Pruritus is a frequent phenomenon in patients in dermatology. The severity of pruritus often cannot be explained by the severity of the underlying disease or chronification processes alone. Especially then, demographic and psychological variables should also be considered as moderators of the intensity of pruritus.

This study aimed to establish the prevalence of chronic low back pain (CLBP) in university-level athletes and to examine the influence of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), sports discipline, sleep, anxiety, and depression on CLBP. The secondary purpose was to check the association of certain variables in athletes having CLBP with the sports discipline and chronicity of LBP.

The 39-item ROwan Foot Pain Assessment Questionnaire (ROFPAQ) has affective, cognitive, and sensory dimensions to evaluate chronic foot pain. However, to date, the ROFPAQ has only been validated in English and Spanish versions. A simplified Chinese version of ROFPAQ is still not available, even though China has a large population of patients with foot pain.

This special article briefly discusses the role of women as the new journal Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia (now Anesthesia & Analgesia [A&A]) began in 1922. It was a time of a few women physicians, and they were usually isolated from the world of mainstream medicine and its predominantly male practitioners The journal's founders, Frank McMechan and his wife Laurette of Cincinnati, were committed to developing an organization for everyone, and women physicians were welcomed early on. Three women physicians even served as the presidents of various anesthesia organizations early in the formation of the present national organization. This acceptance of women was to change as medical education and practice evolved to embrace scientific medicine, after the Flexner Report of 1910 documented the deficiencies of American medicine. Mrs McMechan made the most important contributions by a woman because she cared totally for Dr McMechan, after he experienced disabling and very severe arthritis. He became dependent on his wife for most activities, including the simple act of eating. He could not function without her; she kept him going physically for another 27 years after the onset of his very debilitating illness. After her husband's death in 1939, Mrs McMechan served an executive function, keeping the organization going and maintaining production of the journal. This article also briefly discusses the life of the first woman physician to publish an article in A&A, Frances Edith Haines, MD, of Chicago. Haines published several articles in the journal; the first was in 1922, in the second journal issue. She was the president of the Mid-Western Association of Anesthetists, an affiliated organization, in 1926. She also served in World War I as a contract physician anesthetist for the US Army; she was the first woman contract surgeon to go overseas, to Limoges, France. Her adventure-filled and bold life changed as she aged and developed financial problems. She tried, but failed, to get financial help from the government and the military for her war service, and she died in 1966. These women are examples of women physicians involved with the journal, as it began in 1922. As the number of women physicians has increased recently, some past problems, such as difficulty with getting admitted to medical schools, for example, have improved. However, there are still many issues for women in medicine, including in our specialty.

Plasma cell vulvitis is a rare inflammatory disorder of the vulva with an unknown aetiology, characterised by mucosal inflammation. It commonly manifests as pain, itching, dyspareunia, and dysuria and clinically presents as erythematous plaque and macules on the vulva. This condition is refractory to available treatment modalities in the literature. We present a case of a 70-year-old female with histopathologically proven plasma cell vulvitis treated by platelet-rich plasma therapy after multiple failed treatment attempts with topical steroids and immunomodulators. The patient improved both symptomatically and clinically on follow-up with platelet-rich plasma therapy. Platelet-rich plasma which is a new novel treatment can be a therapeutic option for recalcitrant cases of plasma cell vulvitis.

Frailty is a robust predictor of poor outcomes among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease yet is not measured in routine practice. We determined barriers and facilitators to measuring frailty in a hospital setting, designed and implemented a frailty-focused education intervention, and measured accuracy of frailty screening before and after education.